I'll Keep your Photograph
by iheartBL
Summary: She wouldn't let him keep that photograph, not until she'd vanished without a trace. He loathed her self-sacrficing nature. Did she really have to try and save the world-save him? *Minor Spoiler Warning*


A/N: Okay, blah…Wasn't sure about posting this…

Disclaimer: Owns nothing

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I'll Keep your Photograph

'…_It's hard to share your plus one with the world, but every great relationship has its sacrifices_…'

He smashed his fist into the countertop, Chloe's letter fluttering to the floor. He couldn't even bring himself to read it in its entirety, not yet. Right now, he loathed her self-sacrificing nature. Couldn't she have been selfish-just this once? With a shaky breath, he bent down midway, fingering the paper covered in her familiar scrawl, when a photograph he hadn't noticed before caught his eye.

Oliver left the letter forgotten-for the time being, and grabbed the image. It was one he remembered rather well, the images of that day dancing across his mind vividly. However, it wasn't the moment itself that he clung onto, but the one after. It caused Oliver to commit a task he thought he'd never be able to do-not until she was standing before him again. His lips tugged into a twist, the not so legitimate half smile Chloe loved…

Chloe snatched the photograph from his hand, glancing at it with a frown. She still couldn't believe he had talked her into taking it. Actually, it hadn't occurred to her that Oliver had snapped said moment until she saw the flash. Sneaky. Sneaky Queen Charm. All he had said was "Chloe", and she had looked up with a smile, and the next thing she knew, she'd heard a snap. "There is no way you're keeping this."

This time, Oliver was the one to frown.

_No_, Chloe thought with a shake of her head. He wasn't going to look at her like that and guilt her into letting him keep this stupid photograph. No. _Damn those brown eyes of his_.

"I barely have any pictures of you."

Chloe scowled at him. There was a reason for that. They had been through this. They weren't supposed to act like a couple, because that's not what they were. Chloe bit her lip. She didn't know what they were.

"_You need definitions, Chloe, you need labels…" _She shook Lois's words aside. She could do away with what she needed…._Just this once_?

He caught her look. "Come on, Sidekick," he practically pleaded, leaning just a tad closer to her, "you gotta give me something." His warm breath tickled her ear as he spoke.

She closed her eyes as his lips drew near her neck.

"…Just one little picture…" His voice grew lower…softer…

Chloe swallowed as he left a trail of light kisses up her neck. He stopped, gazing into her hazed eyes. It was then she noticed what he had pulled up his sleeve. She raised the photograph higher. "Nice try, Mr. Queen."

Oliver shrugged his shoulders. "Eh, it was worth a try."

"Try harder next time," she stated derisively.

He lifted her up and sat her upon the countertop. Okay, she hadn't actually meant for him to take up her offer. There was work that had to be done. And after the weekend they had just had, work was something she found herself missing. Therefore, she backed away from Oliver's attempt for a kiss.

"Chloe!"

"Ollie," she teased back.

"What is wrong with the picture?"

She brought the photograph back towards her, gazing at it. She could find a million things wrong with this picture. Her eyes were hazed from the early hour. Her blonde hair was a tousled mess, and the photograph was hardly appropriate. "I have bed-head," she said through a pout, turning the photograph towards him.

His eyes narrowed in on the image, scrutinizing it before turning back to face her. Reaching over, he ruffled her hair.

"Hey," she stated, pulling his arm away.

"When will you learn that I like you just the way you are, and that includes the messy hair." She was staring at him that way again; a look that said he'd crossed some line. He was really beginning to loathe these unwritten rules of hers…

"Thank you."

Okay, so it was his turn to be surprised. "Does that mean I can keep the picture?"

Chloe clicked her tongue. "No."

"Chloe."

"No."

He sighed, lifting her up bridal style as she deposited the photograph on the counter.

"Ollie, put me down."

"No."

She rolled her eyes. She should have known that would have come back to bite her in the butt. _Karma_…

His stomach knotted as the memory faded, the reality of the situation pressing around him like a ton of bricks. He let out a shaky breath, the smile-or lack of smile- vanishing as he felt the lump that had lodged itself in his throat amidst all the angst. His brown orbs fell back to the photograph he held between his finger and thumb. _A million things wrong with this picture_…He let out a bitter chuckle. The moment itself was perfect, but this photograph was breathtakingly beautiful. Chloe couldn't get passed the messy hair, the tired expression, but he saw the way she appeared to glow from the buttery light seeping through the window.

Oliver saw what she often failed to see. He saw as she fell for him, but he let her keep him at arms length, waiting for her to realize it herself. The exchange of those eight letters had scared him, but she'd returned them with reassurance, and now she was… He couldn't even think it. Clasping his eyes shut, he felt the tears. It wasn't supposed to be this way. They had him. Why did she have to try and save the world-save him? The world would be okay without the Green Arrow, there were other heroes, Clark being the prime example, but there was only one Chloe Sullivan. Without her, his world was incomplete. He'd lost his purpose.

She had wiped her very existence, except for the memories no one could touch. If anyone wanted to disappear without a trace, then who could do it better than _his_ Sidekick? He nearly laughed, and he probably would've if it weren't for the induced nausea. He didn't understand why she did what she did. He probably never would. She had failed to confide in a single soul of her plans…of her sacrifice. Love was dangerous, he could attest to that, and Chloe…Oliver shook his head. She knew he'd come looking for her, and suddenly the lack of information made sense, but it wasn't enough to keep the prickle of hope at bay.

Maybe it was his stubborn persona, but he vowed to search for her. She didn't confide in anyone of her plans, she had failed to let him know what she did for their love, so he was going to do the same. He was going to find her no matter what the cost. Oliver had learned not too long ago that a life without Chloe Sullivan was a life without a purpose.

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A/N: Dares to ask…Thoughts? Opinions?


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